Under age sexual assault on a younger child.

[Namechanged050]

A 13-year-old asked a 7 year old to preform sexual acts on him.

The 13-year-old knows that it’s wrong as he’s asked the younger boy to keep it a secret.

What will the police do?

It probably depends on the actions of the parent going forwards. If the parent of the teen reports it and shows willingness to work with the police and social services going forwards then that may make all the difference. If however, the home is found to be lacking or the care of the teen arguably having contributed to the behaviour of the teen, he may be removed.

I suppose the same could be said of the seven year old but that would depend wholly on circumstances. Eg: if the 13 year old had proved to be inappropriate in the past towards the boy and the parents had still left him alone with them. I think generally speaking though the social service folk would just look to provide support to this child and their parents.

The fact is that either way, the 13 year old is a danger to others and something needs to be done, asap.

I'm terms of police charges ect though, I've no idea.

13 year old is over the age of criminal responsibility. Police may press charges as a juvenile if they have enough evidence.

I’m not a police officer but I would expect that as the 13 year old is also a child they’ll be looking into what’s prompted the behaviour to check both children are safe. 13 is old enough to be convicted but I suspect it will depend entirely on the severity of the incident what happens next. It may not be in the public interest to prosecute. (If you’re debating whether to report it yourself please do. The 13 year old may need help for the behaviour and you could also get in trouble for not appropriately protecting the 7yo).

Please report, it needs dealing with urgently by professionals before the behaviour escalates.

Sadly at 14 my ds was taken into foster care after assaulting my nearly 4 yo dd.
He went to court and pleaded guilty to lesser charges. He avoided a sex offender register and had to attend therapy for 2 years court ordered with longer voluntarily available.. Which he took I heard.
No regrets about the correct authority dealing with it even though it had catastrophic effects on my family..

I’m guessing you’re affected by something like this. Possibly parent of the 13 year old? However you’re connected to something like this, I’m so very sorry that this has happened. I know your world must be falling apart.

I work in this area. Believe me, things like this are more common than you would realise. That’s not to say that it’s not devastating or very serious, just that you or the people involved are not alone. There is support out there for young people engaging in harmful sexual behaviours, and for parents who are left to pick up the pieces. Please do seek support for yourself and your child.

In terms of police, it very much depends on what has happened, how many times, and how much of a risk the 13 year old is considered to be. Has he had an AIM assessment yet? That would determine what risk he poses/his understanding/likelihood of recurrence. Significantly, it would identify his therapeutic needs.

At 13, the boy is over the age of criminal responsibility. He may well be charged and receive a conviction. It is likely that it would be recommended that he undertake therapeutic work to address his use of harmful sexual behaviour. This is absolutely necessary and if you are his parent you should push for this - through probation or children’s services, whoever is involved at the moment. It is likely he would not be allowed to remain living with the seven year old if they were living together. Without more information it’s difficult to give more detailed advice, but I absolutely understand why you’re not going into more detail in your post. Wishing you all the best.

My dd had therapy and her therapist told me the repercussions for her would be minimal long term as I believed her and it dealt with it ASAP - ie he was removed...
Ultimately I had to choose dc.
Leaving this under the carpet isn't an option op - it really isn't.

Just worth adding, if children’s services or the police don’t know about this yet, it is absolutely in your best interests to report it as soon as possible. Both children involved require therapeutic support. There also needs to be professional involvement to keep both children safe - either from being sexually abused or from engaging in sexually harmful behaviours again - especially if they are siblings. It is scary to report this yourself, absolutely. But it will be much better to work with the authorities than to try and conceal it - both in terms of the recovery of both children, and in terms of whether you or the parent are considered able to safeguard either or both children.